The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Leucanthemum plant, botanically known as Chrysanthemum leucanthemum and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Kiemarxe2x80x99.
The new Leucanthemum is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Steenbergen, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to create compact Leucanthemum cultivars that flower early and have good garden performance.
The new Leucanthemum originated from a cross made by the Inventor in the summer of 1993, in Steenbergen, The Netherlands, of two unidentified seedling selections of Chrysanthemum leucanthemum. The new Leucanthemum was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross grown in a controlled environment in Steenbergen, The Netherlands in the summer of 1995. The selection of this plant was based on its compact plant habit and early flowering.
Asexual reproduction of the new Leucanthemum by vegetative tip cuttings was first conducted in Steenbergen, The Netherlands in 1997. Asexual reproduction by cuttings has shown that the unique features of this new Leucanthemum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Kiemar has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength, and/or light level, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Kiemarxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Kiemarxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Leucanthemum:
1. Upright, compact and uniform plant habit.
2. Dark green foliage.
3. Early flowering.
4. Daisy-type inflorescences that are about 5 cm in diameter.
5. White-colored ray florets and bright yellow-colored disc florets.
6. Good garden performance.
Plants of the new Leucanthemum have been observed to be more compact and stronger than plants of the parent selections.
Plants of the new Leucanthemum can be compared to plants of the seed-propagated Leucanthemum cultivar White Knight not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted by the Inventor in Steenbergen, The Netherlands, plants of the new Leucanthemum differ from plants of the cultivar White Knight in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Leucanthemum flower about three weeks earlier than plants of the cultivar White Knight.
2. Plants of the new Leucanthemum are stronger than plants of the cultivar White Knight.